Functional 3D nanoporous Fe-based alloy from metallic glass for high-efficiency water splitting and wastewater treatment

Fe-based alloys with 3D nanoporous structures (np-Fe) are promising catalysts in various fields. In this study, np-Fe is easily fabricated using Fe-based metallic glass (Fe-MG) ribbons to prepare Fe-based nanocrystalline alloys as precursors after chemical dealloying in an HCl solution. The potential applications of np-Fe in energy conversion and environmental remediation are highlighted by oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and dyeing wastewater treatment of an np-Fe800-12h. The results show that np-Fe has excellent OER performance with an overpotential of 230 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2). Moreover, np-Fe exhibits superior degradation capability toward azo dye pollutants and shows improved performance than even its nanocrystalline precursor and Fe-MG. This study thus paves a new avenue for fabricating the desired np-Fe as high-performance catalysts for energy conversion and wastewater treatment applications.

Automated summary

Fe-based alloys with 3D nanoporous structures show promising applications in energy conversion and environmental remediation. In this study, Fe-MG ribbons were used to fabricate np-Fe, which exhibited excellent performance in oxygen evolution reaction and dyeing wastewater treatment. The results highlight the potential of np-Fe as a high-performance catalyst for these applications.